as in illusion
a conception or image created by the imagination and having no objective reality
a sci-fi author who seems to have preferred the unrealities of his own fiction to the realities of the world about him
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unreality
In giving each of its characters new foils, the unreality of the show finally takes off.
—
Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2025
Yet even as Pym stalked him, slept with him, and pined after him, there was an element of unreality in her ardor, Harvey recalled.
—Literary Hub, 17 Nov. 2025
The cringing mortifications and unsettling unreality make the series a tough sit.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 11 Oct. 2025
Longtime Vogue readers can likely recognize Steven Klein’s photographs at a glance, what with their glaring colors, arresting compositions, and beguiling sense of unreality.
—Vogue, 7 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unreality
Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2025
Yet even as Pym stalked him, slept with him, and pined after him, there was an element of unreality in her ardor, Harvey recalled.
—Literary Hub, 17 Nov. 2025
The cringing mortifications and unsettling unreality make the series a tough sit.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 11 Oct. 2025
Longtime Vogue readers can likely recognize Steven Klein’s photographs at a glance, what with their glaring colors, arresting compositions, and beguiling sense of unreality.
—Vogue, 7 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for unreality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unreality
Noun
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But the illusion shatters when a stranger on the street recognizes the dog… as HER boyfriend Danny’s dog.—
William Earl,
Variety,
29 Apr. 2026
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This week, even Penny’s exceptionalism is revealed to be an illusion.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The coffee shop seemed so long ago now, so far away, as if something out of a dream.—
Saïd Sayrafiezadeh,
New Yorker,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Derek Muller, an election law expert, suggests that scenario is little more than a fever dream of doomsday devotees and overly nervous Nellies.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Lush, dark wood shelving and the rolling library ladder of every bookish person's dreams complete the fantasy.—
Nathanael Gassett,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
30 Apr. 2026
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Yet this is precisely the idea that the Enhanced Games is peddling—the fantasy that what Proud or Collins takes to break a world record, at a different dose, might make a man in his 70s more mobile, energized, and maybe even hotter.—
Clara Molot,
Vanity Fair,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Just think of all those vacant Madonnas, structurally perfect compositions, and obedient daydreams of antiquity.—
Zachary Fine,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
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The family car is a Mazda, but Zac daydreams of a Bugatti Veyron.—
Frank Langfitt,
NPR,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Arve Henriksen’s trumpet is a celestial contrast to the vocals’ groundedness, a floater at the edge of the song’s smoky peripheral vision.—
Linnie Greene,
Pitchfork,
29 Apr. 2026
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What do any of these throwaway lines actually illustrate about Homelander’s project of using the entertainment industry to sell his traditionalist vision of America?—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The first type is replete with hallucinations and delusions—voices, visions, grandiose beliefs, paranoia.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Apr. 2026
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Over pinwheeling synths, Mahesh inhabits her narrator’s misplaced longing with gooey, heart-eyed delusion and sweetly pathetic determination.—
Harry Tafoya,
Pitchfork,
24 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unreality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unreality. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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